Spotlight on Adventure Champions: Global Rescue

Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) Adventure Champions are the vanguards of the adventure travel industry having been members of ATTA and leaders in the community for a minimum of 15 years. They are true believers in the power of adventure travel and have made an impact on the direction of ATTA and on the industry as a whole. To honor their commitment to their ethos and lasting contribution to the adventure travel industry we are spotlighting Adventure Champions through a series of interviews.

Global Rescue
Travel Crisis Risk Management Company
ATTA Industry Partner Member
Headquarters: United States
ATTA Member since 2006

Introducing Zach Graham, Manager, Business Development & Partnerships

Tell us about Global Rescue:
Global Rescue is for tour operators and their clients who go out into the world and want to pack travel crisis protection. Global Rescue pioneered worldwide field rescue capability, evacuating members from the point of illness or injury to the nearest appropriate health care facility and then to their home hospital of choice. Global Rescue provides security evacuation during natural disasters, terrorist attack, government-ordered evacuation, civil unrest, or pandemic. We are the only integrated travel risk and crisis response provider offering in-house travel protection for medical, security, and intelligence. Global Rescue provides advisory services including assistance managing local health care systems, visa and passport issues, translation, legal referrals, detailed destination reports, and real-time event alerts.

How has your company changed over the last 15 years?

COVID-19 changed everything for the travel industry. While other companies limited their services and their destinations, Global Rescue stayed the course, continuing medical and security operations, including for COVID-19. When the pandemic was declared and travel became restricted, Global Rescue adapted quickly and expanded services that benefited tour operators and their clients at no additional cost. With decreased international travel and an uptick in local travel, Global Rescue eliminated its 100-mile rule for services. Global Rescue accommodated travel uncertainly by permitting members to activate their memberships on a future date after their purchase was made so they could enjoy the full value and term of their membership.

What is the greatest force that drives you to work every day?

Global Rescue excels during a crisis, helping people in need sometimes on the worst day of their lives. We’ve rescued individuals during the coronavirus pandemic, the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War, the Arab Spring, amidst civil unrest in Chile and Hong Kong, the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal, and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. These types of rescues are right in Global Rescue’s wheelhouse. Experienced nurses, paramedics, and military special operations veterans staff the operations centers. Each are experts with hazardous environments, peacekeeping operations, Himalayan expeditions, protection services as well as wilderness skills, and crisis response training. While travel insurance protects your wallet, a Global Rescue membership can save your life. Our members say it best:

“There are no words for that moment when Global Rescue helped me get my life back,” said Dolly Webster who was COVID-19 positive and symptomatic during a Caribbean vacation.
“I couldn’t walk and then the helicopters came shooting over the mountain at the exact same time. It was a Hollywood moment,” said Alastair Swinton, an experienced climber who needed rescue from Koyo Zom in Pakistan.
“I knew if I stayed here, I might lose my arm — or my life,” said Scott Sirles, a fly fisherman in Kamchatka who suffered a horrible dog bite.

What gets you excited about the future of adventure travel?

Adventure traveler zest about the future of travel is rising to near pre-pandemic levels and will likely surpass those benchmarks for two reasons. First, the pandemic raised awareness of the outdoors as a source of recreation and fulfillment but also awareness of the limitations of traditional travel insurance and the value of a stand-alone medical assistance and evacuation safety net. That awareness will translate to more travelers obtaining the additional protections so they can travel more. Second, never have travel adventure leaders been more aware and more concerned about the duty of care they have to their staff and customers. That understanding will translate to an improved comprehensive duty of care protections and precautions. When travelers and travel industry leaders work together, it forms a solid foundation to minimize the impact of — and recovery from — a future disaster.